Structural and magnetic properties of mechanically alloyed Fe-66 at%Al

A metastable, nanocrystalline Fe-66 at%Al solid solution, which is ferromagnetic at room temperature, was prepared from elemental powders by mechanical alloying using a high-energy ball mill. X-ray diffraction and Mossbauer studies were used to trace the evolution of microstructure and disorder in the system. Bulk magnetization studies showed that the system is ferromagnetic at room temperature. This has been attributed to the presence of a disordered Fe-rich phase that persists even after 30 h of milling. Thermomagnetic measurements showed that the ferromagnetic to paramagnetic transition occurs between 603 and 613 K for all the samples, irrespective of milling time. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.